Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Mizzou football fans are used to dealing with the preseason looks and grumbles at this point. Another strong year, another wave of casting the team aside and disregarding the fact that Gary Pinkel has proven his ability to win time and time again.
It doesn’t matter where you look either. ESPN NFL Insider K.C. Joyner weighed in late in the spring, and seems more than certain that Mizzou’s reign as the darling of the East is about over. Among other things, Joyner describes Mizzou junior quarterback Maty Mauk as “trending down” based on his quarterback rating numbers against top teams.
Joyner went on to describe “terrible practices” in relation to Mauk and his receivers. He also said they suffered from a “sub-par spring game.”
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If there’s anything we know about Pinkel, it’s that he’s extremely willing to adapt his plan to whatever the situation presents to him. If he feels that Mauk’s passing game lacks adequate attack, he’ll use the strong base of rushers and quarterback options to mix up opposing defenses.
Let’s also not forget that the young and electric Marvin Zanders may get time on the field this year.
Continuing to look at the media’s take on Mizzou’s 2015, Brad Crawford of Saturday Down South seems like he’s creating a viable excuse to explain that Missouri isn’t all that great if they do win by saying that the Tigers will benefit from a “soft schedule” in 2015.
Enough of this. It doesn’t fly anymore. Georgia is a National Championship caliber team. Tennessee has been on the brink of breaking out as a national team, and based on their latest recruiting class, there’s every reason to believe that they could head to Atlanta.
Also, did anyone forget that the East went 5-0 in the bowls back in December and January? They carried the reputation of the SEC while the West went 2-5.
People in the south are going to start to just love the “Show-Me culture” that Mizzou fans bring to the table. Until I’m shown that Mizzou can’t do what they’ve done over the past two years, there’s every reason to believe that Pinkel can get this squad ready, physically and mentally, to win a third consecutive East division title.